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In partnership with ACT theatre, the Hansberry Project produces a mainstage show, workshops,
and other events each season.
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Productions, Readings & Workshops
BlackStage Theatre Group
Community Conversations
The Louise Jones McKinney Fellowship
7th Avenue Salon
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Coming in July:
Represent! A Multicultural Playwrights' Festival
The Hansberry Project, in a joint venture with eSe Teatro, SIS and Pratidhwani, will host "Represent!: A Multicultural Playwrights' Festival" July 19-24. The festival will feature staged readings of new 3 full-length plays, an evening dedicated specifically to showcasing the work of six very talented local writers and panel about the role of ethnically specific theatres in the development of new work.
All Performances will take place in the Bullitt Cabaret at ACT Theatre 700 Union Street
Keep an eye out for more details soon!
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This year we are moving into even stronger support for playwrights by hoisting our first new play festival. We have always been clear
that the work of the playwright is central to all that we do. Over the
course of the last 5 years, we have only once undertaken a project
whose playwright was not in the room collaborating with us. This July we have invited 3 other companies to join us in making a space for playwrights of color to be heard. Our contribution to the festival is THE FINAL DAYS OF NEGROVILLE by Keith Josef Adkins.
Save the dates JULY 19-24, 2011!
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The Hansberry Project
presents plays during ACT's mainstage season featuring both classic
works from the African American canon, as well as new works by emerging
and established playwrights. Through our mainstage productions, The Hansberry Project
seeks to provide consistent opportunities for the community to
participate in theatre that presents a myriad of images that are
representative of the Black Experience and build bridges between
generations.
The
diversity in our programming allows us to empower African American
artists speaking on a range of themes and working in a variety of
styles from realism to hip hop and beyond.
In 2011, we will not be producing a mainstage show but will be focused on delivering our first commission, strengthening our partnerships, and deepening our connection to community.
We will return the ACT's mainstage in 2012!
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READINGS AND WORKSHOPS
To
establish The Hansberry Project at ACT as a place for playwrights,
facilitate the development of high quality work, and support the
emergence of new voices, The Hansberry Project hosts a series of readings and workshops
This year we are pleased to present three readings as part of our 2011 season:
SPECIAL EVENT - Febraruy 13, 2011
You Really Got A Hold On Me
- A Celebration of Love featuring poetry, letters and love songs
NEW PLAY WORKSHOP - July 20 & 23, 2011:
Keith Josef Adkins' The Final Days of Negroville is back for another workshop presentation. Negroville is the Hansberry Project's first commission. Told by a cast of 7, the play explores the pressures that tough economic times has put on a newly emerging Black middle class. It looks inside a suburban town peopled by an ecelctic community of characters who keep us up to date on all the of the town's hilarious comings and goings.
REVIVAL READING - September 2011:
Alice Childress' Trouble in Mind - An all-star cast reads this charming and involving period piece which looks at race inside a theatre company making a controversial production.
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| Somebody To Lean On, 2007 |
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| To Be Young Gifted and Black, 2008 |
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BLACKSTAGE THEATRE GROUP
The BlackStage Theatre Group attends professional African American plays presented on stage in Seattle and hosts post play discussions to cultivate a deeper, more critical understanding of the aesthetics represented in Black Theatre. The Hansberry Project is pleased to provide an opportunity for the community to support the long-standing tradition of African Americans in theatre.
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COMMUNITY CONVERSATIONS - Telling Our Stories
Telling Our Stories is a series of "Community Conversations" that allow The Hansberry Project to remain in consistent dialogue with our audience and provide an avenue for community engagement around topics of importance in the African American community.
Upcoming Conversations:
Inside ALL MY SONS - a conversation with Valerie Curtis-Newton & Kate Whorisky
Date: Monday, March 22 at 6:30
Location: Intiman Theatre
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THE LOUISE JONES MCKINNEY FELLOWSHIP
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| McKinney Fellow, Playwright Shontina Vernon |
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The Hansberry Project at ACT has as one of its primary goals to "facilitate the emergence of new voices, providing opportunities for
artists to develop and hone their skills." To that end, we are
establishing The Louise J. McKinney Playwrighting Fellowship for
African American Playwrights. We intend that the McKinney Fellowship
will serve as the cornerstone of our efforts to support new voices and
new work by African Americans for the American Theatre.
Louise J. McKinney is an educator, a businesswoman and a community
activist whose commitment to excellence, compassion and community has
been widely recognized. Her efforts have benefited a range of causes
from the Mount Zion Scholarship Fund to Bailey Boushay House. Mrs.
McKinney has also worked tirelessly in support of the arts having been
involved with all of Seattle's major theatres, serving on the ACT Board
for nearly 2 decades, and nurturing emerging organizations like the
Hansberry Project as well.
The Hansberry Project has chosen to honor Mrs. McKinney's many years of
service to the arts community. Her efforts promoting the issue of
diversity in the arts have been invaluable in paving the way for
organizations like the Hansberry Project.
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| ETTA PHIFER in production |
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The Fellowship Overview:
The McKinney Playwriting Fellowship recognizes one playwright annually to receive:
A cash award ($1K-$3K).
A week-long workshop with development support including actors, a
director and a dramaturg. (Additional collaborators may be invited to
participate according to project's demands).
At least two public presentations of the new play.
Assistance from the artistic staff in setting a strategy for the project's next phase.
Playwrights will be invited to submit themselves for the Fellowship
based on nominations from prominent figures in the field. The
interested playwright either must have clearly articulated a proposed
project in his or her application or must have provided the first few
pages of the new play. Finalists will be selected by a panel of Seattle
based theatre artists and will be evaluated by a diverse panel of
national theater artists. Selection is based on artistic excellence,
potential, and commitment. After being selected, he or she works with
the Hansberry Project's directors to develop a plan and establish a
timeline for the development and production work to be done on the new
play. All fellows are expected to be present in Seattle from time to
time to fully engage in the opportunities that the fellowship provides.
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7TH AVENUE SALON FOR ARTISTS
To offer an intimate environment where artists can share ideas and broaden support toward sustaining and advancing African American culture, the Hansberry Project hosts gatherings of invited performing artists, musicians, writers and intellectuals. These gatherings encourage deep conversations, sharing of works in progress, and the development of ideas in incubation. 7th Avenue Salon gatherings will be held on selected Monday evenings in February, May, July and September.
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